Water skiing is a popular sport. Still, water skiing is associated with fast speeds and for that reason, is not appealing to many individuals. Also, water skiing requires that the skier have sufficient strength to get up from a sitting position and to be able to hold on to a rope and thereby be pulled behind a boat over the water surface. In addition, water skiing requires a boat having sufficient power to pull the skier over the water. Thus, in addition to requiring sophisticated equipment, the sport requires a particular type of athlete.
The ability to walk on water has intrigued man for millennia. There have been several previous attempts to develop skis that allow for self-propelled motion over the water. Still, none of the self-propelled skis developed to date have proven to commercially viable.
For example, several patents describe skis that are not attached to each other. In this case, the user is susceptible to painful leg splits, as the skis will naturally move away from each other during use. Another disadvantage of a design in which the skis are not connected is that the user has to try to ski with their feet wider apart than the natural position. Cross-country skiers can easily have their feet wide apart or close together, but the natural position seems to be when the centerline of each ski is about shoulder width apart. Patents describing skis that are not attached to each other include U.S. Pat. Nos.: 216,234; 1,719,059; 2,482,074; 3,031,696; 3,479,674; 3,541,623; 3,952,353; 4,117,562; 4,599,072; 4,698,039; 4,618,329; 4,731,039; 4,804,345; 4,952,184; 4,954,106; 4,985,006; 5,080,621; and 5,236,381.
Other products that have been designed to walk on water describe skis that are attached to each other, but require complex, heavy mechanisms to join the skis, or to propel the skis with respect to one another. Patents describing such complex attachment mechanisms include U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,940,090; 3,324,820; 3,936,897; 4,157,597; 4,459,118; 4,541,809; 4,846,743; and 5,194,023.
Non-motorized water sport products need to be simple and inexpensive to become viable commercial products. Canoes, kayaks, surfboards, wind surfers, and small sail boats all benefit from very simple mechanisms and designs that are easily mass-produced. Thus, there is a need for a simple, lightweight product that allows for a human subject to engage in self-propelled motion across the water. Preferably, the skis to walk on water employ a simple mechanism that provides for skis that are portable, easy to put on and to take off, and allow for easy adjustment by the user.